Shadows of Slaughterhouse Five

By mid-December 1944, as the 106th Division was still fighting for their very lives in the Schnee Eifel, Dresden’s population was growing as refugees fleeing the Russians swelled the population to almost double its prewar size. In early January 1945, unbeknownst to the residents of Dresden, the city’s fate was about to become inextricably linked with groups previously unimagined: the German Army, the American Army Air Corps, the Royal Air Force, and those 150 American soldiers from the 106th Infantry Division, captured in the Battle of the Bulge. The men had reached Dresden in mid-January 1945, arriving by train and then marched to their new camp in the Schlachthof - the (public) slaughterhouse. The Schlachthof for Saxony was situated in the western section of Dresden, located on a bend in the Elbe River. The men recalled marching across a long causeway, which covered a grassy flood plain of the Elbe River, before reaching the Schlachthof. At the east end of this large walled-in complex stood the main gate, directly across from the causeway. A bronze statue of a steer stood silent watch over the entrance to the complex. Residents designated this complex Schlachthof V as in the official mailing address. PFC Jim Donnini recalled being told that the official address of the complex was: Kfg. - Arbeits-Kdo Dresden - links Schlachthof V Ruf 86 88 50. But to the 150 American “Krieges,” this complex would forever be known as “Slaughterhouse Five.” PFC Donnini also recalled that the men were definitely billeted in an animal pen. He noticed faded black letters on the wall just under the eaves at the entrance - SPECH. PFC Donnini later asked his mother what the word meant. She would tell him that the men were living in a “pig pen.” For the next four weeks the men would spend their nights locked in the Slaughterhouse, rising before dawn and returning after dark from their various work details in Dresden. PFC Donnini was assigned to keep the pig sty clean; PFCs Tom Jones, Kurt Vonnegut and Gifford Doxsee worked in a barley malt factory; PFCs Ervin Szpek, Joseph Topicz and H.F. Moore unloaded gas acetylene cylinders from rail cars. These varied assignments were indicative of what the men were tasked for work details. Living in the Slaughterhouse was definitely more difficult than living in a Stalag. PFC Lawrence Lorenz vividly recalls that their rations "were the equivalent of a cupful of soup which was generally rotten vegetables boiled down so it thickened a bit. They were given one piece of bread that was made of sawdust, barley and molasses." They would be given one loaf for 10 people and had to divide it evenly. PFC Marion Hilliard would tear the bread into 10 pieces trying to divide the loaf as equally as possible. In order to be fair, he would create a list of the ten men’s names among whom the loaf was to be divided. Each day the first name on the list would be first to choose a piece of bread, the second man would choose second, and so forth. The next day, the previous day’s first chooser would move to the bottom of the list and the second chooser would select his piece first. This ritual would continue day after day. For the better part of a month the men of Slaughterhouse Five would rise before dawn and return at night, working their details in Dresden. The war seemed to have passed them by, so to speak. On Tuesday, February 13, 1945, as evening settled over Dresden, the residents of the Altstadt and the Neustadt, along with hundreds of thousands of refugees, prepared to celebrate Shrove Tuesday – the day before Ash Wednesday, and the start of the Lenten Season. Children donned their costumes for the night’s festivities, people prepared their evening meal, and the religiously inclined made preparations for Lent. Ironically, St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday fell on the same calendar day this year, although Ash Wednesday would be the more fitting description as the following morning dawned in Dresden. As the townspeople prepared for their Shrove Tuesday celebrations, the German workers and foreign slave laborers began returning to their homes and their camps, respectively. The 150 American Prisoners of War were returned to the Slaughterhouse Complex for their evening meal of a small piece of bread, some watery soup (mostly water) and some ersatz coffee. Little did any of this diverse group of people throughout Dresden realize that within several hours their lives would become entwined for eternity. While the night settled upon Dresden, a dozen Mosquito Bombers of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command took off for the 700 mile flight to Dresden. Shortly thereafter, 244 Lancaster Bombers took off in two waves with the intention of meeting up with the Mosquitoes over Dresden. The aircrews realized that there would be no German resistance, as all the anti-aircraft guns had been stripped from the city earlier and sent to the Russian Front where they were desperately needed to stem the Russian juggernaut. As the clock on the Rathaus in the Altstadt struck 2200 hours on Tuesday evening, the Shrove Tuesday celebration wound down, and the 150 American POWs bedded down for the night in the Slaughterhouse Complex. At that moment, the RAF Mosquitoes dropped their green marker flares on Dresden. Ten minutes later the first 500 tons of high explosive bombs began to fall from the Lancaster bombers flying over Dresden. As they were exploding on the city below, the remainder of the bomber force began dropping the first of 200,000 incendiaries on the hapless city. Four thousand pound "blockbusters" rained down, cracking open water mains and gas lines. Smaller bombs broke open the roofs of the buildings. Fires began burning everywhere in the center of Dresden. At 0155 on the morning of Ash Wednesday, the second half of the "double blow" fell on Dresden as 529 Lancasters opened their bomb bay doors. Within 45 minutes hundreds more high explosive bombs and another 650,000 incendiaries rained down on the already burning city. The idea of a "double blow" was that the first wave of bombers would use their high explosive bombs to break open the water mains and gas lines. The second blow would occur as the rescue workers and fire crews were out in the open and the incendiaries would fall into the wooden interiors of the buildings after the high explosives had blasted open the roofs. As the bombs rained down on Dresden that evening, the inhabitants of Slaughterhouse Five, their guards, the night workers in the Slaughterhouse and any other people lucky enough to be nearby, descended into an underground basement doubling as a bomb shelter. As the bombs rained down, the ground shuddered, the lights flickered then went out, and dust and debris dropped down on the inhabitants of the bomb shelter. PFC George Bloomingburg recalled that at about 2200 hours the air raid alert sounded and our guards rushed the men to an underground shelter beneath the Slaughterhouse. The doors at the head of the long stairs were closed and barred. The men did not know what was happening outside but they heard the roar of the planes and felt the rumble of the earth. The main building above was hit by incendiary bombs and was burning. After the second wave of Lancasters dropped their load and made the turn for home, the survivors in the bomb shelter slowly emerged to see the city glowing from hundreds of fires now coalescing into one giant firestorm. After the all clear sirens sounded, PFC Gifford Doxsee climbed out of the bomb shelter and beheld an unbelievable vision, "the entire city of Dresden burning around us in all directions." PFC Joseph Hajdas recalled that "the whole city glowed in bright, red flames," while PFC Norwood Frye remembers feeling the tremendous heat from the firestorm. PFC Tom Jones looked across the Elbe, and saw the entire town of Dresden in flames.